Sarah impaled

Steve Tefft

Thursday

Sep 25, 2008 at 2:00 AMSep 25, 2008 at 9:01 PM

For about two weeks after McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, the Democrats were in complete disarray. The pick caught them by surprise, and the political cliché of the moment was, "They don’t know how to handle her."

For about two weeks after McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, the Democrats were in complete disarray. The pick caught them by surprise, and the political cliché of the moment was, “They don’t know how to handle her.” But now, the Democrats know how to “handle her.” They will destroy Palin, no matter how ugly it gets. The viciousness of the Palin offensive is wider and deeper – and more personal – than any in memory. Surprisingly, much of the invective has come from other women who call themselves feminists – and who might be expected to celebrate the first legitimate opportunity a woman has had to win the country’s second highest political office (Geraldine Ferraro had no chance as the hapless Walter Mondale’s running mate in 1984). Feminist fossil Gloria Steinem sneered that Palin shares “nothing but a chromosome” with Hillary Clinton (whose entire political success has derived from marrying Bill Clinton). New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd smeared Palin as, alternately, “vice in go-go boots” and “our new Napoleon in bunny boots.” Cynthia Tucker, columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, called Palin “Dick Cheney with a moose gun.” South Carolina Democratic Chairwoman Carol Fowler stated that Palin’s “primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion.” Palin made Salon’s Cintra Wilson feel “…as horrified as a ghetto Jew watching the rise of National Socialism.” Slob comedienne Sandra Bernhard warned Palin not to enter New York City or else she would “…be gang-raped by my big black brothers.” Evidently rape is now permissible as a comedic instrument, as long as the target is a conservative Palin’s male detractors didn’t lack for sliminess either. New York Congressman/tax cheat Charles Rangel opined that she is “disabled.” Longtime Massachusetts Democrat operative Dan Payne likened Palin to the Taliban. University of Michigan professor Juan Cole concurred, equating her with Islamic fundamentalists. Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen connected Palin with Pontius Pilate. Noted international relations expert Matt Damon said the Alaskan governor is “…a disaster…like a bad Disney movie.” Here’s how deranged the hatred of Palin has become: when her personal e-mail was illegally accessed and published, the privacy scolds of the ACLU and the mainstream media – always quick to question terrorist surveillance – looked the other way. The assault on Sarah Palin is not primarily sexist. It is a basic, conservatism-is-evil boilerplate. But it also reeks of elitism. Consider: She attended public schools, which rich liberals avoid like the plague. She eloped with her husband, forgoing a “proper” marriage. She has many children, including a Down syndrome son she declined to abort. She recognizes that oil is the lifeblood of our economy, and we need to get more of it. Not only does she favor the right to own guns, she knows how to use them. She fishes. She regularly attends church. In fact, Palin could be seen to represent the typical Middle Americans of Barack Obama’s imagination –the ones who “cling to guns or religion.” Is Palin qualified to be vice-president? Probably. She doesn’t have the years in political hackery that other veeps have possessed, but at least she’s had some real-life experience. Is she qualified to be president? No, not right now. But she’s not running for president. Barack Obama is, and he’s not qualified either. Qualified or not, no candidate deserves the personalized, belittling, condescending bombardment that’s been unleashed on Palin. Ironically, if John McCain and Sarah Palin should manage to win the election – and they still must be considered underdogs, considering all the political atmospherics in play – they may have the Democrats and the American Left to thank…simply for pushing many fence-sitting voters to the GOP side with the utter vileness and unfairness of their rhetoric.

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